Building a Better Body: Mind Over Matter
Losing weight is a mental game. Sure, your body has to do the work but it’s your brain that does the real heavy lifting. Committing to any lifestyle change is the first and most important step toward making that change. Losing weight is no different. It’s about mentally preparing yourself for the challenges ahead and putting your personal process first, above almost everything else. When you’ve truly “locked in” the rest will fall into place. Read on for three powerful mental tips that will help you lose weight and achieve your goals.
1. Want It More than Anything
Wanting change more than anything is absolutely essential. Why? Because you are bound to face obstacles along the way—some of which will be hard to spot. It’s not always the box of candy in the cupboard, sometimes it’s the movie marathon that keeps you on the couch, or traveling for work that seemingly leaves fast food as your only option, or a trip to a theme park that momentarily derails your healthy eating habits.
These temptations and roadblocks will always be there. One way you can prepare is to have healthy alternatives like the Hollywood Cookie Diet® on-hand to satisfy cravings without breaking your calorie budget.
Once your lifestyle change is a priority, you’ll not only be able to spot those distractions for what they are but deal with them accordingly and recover more easily when they occur. In fact, how you perceive and recover from those “missteps” can make the difference between success and something less.
2. Commit to the Process, Not the Perfection
Even the most dedicated individual will slip up. Whether it’s sneaking potato chips at night, donuts at work, or nibbling on candy to take the edge off a rough day, everybody cheats! Even the most successful people have been there and done that.
What separates those who continue to lose weight from those who give up is accepting that a lifestyle change is a process. It’s never about perfection.
While goals are an important motivational tool, you have to view those goals as guidelines, not finish lines. Cementing an idea of perfection in your mind means that anything less is going to be a disappointment. Disappointment comes with all sorts of emotional baggage that can weigh you down and derail the healthy lifestyle you’ve chosen to lead.
However, if you’ve dedicated yourself to the process then every step toward your goal is a minor victory. You want to lose weight for a reason: to look better in the clothes you wear, be more active in the life you lead, feel better in the skin you’re in. It’s that lifestyle that should be your end goal, not a certain number on the scale. With that mindset you know with absolute certainty that any given day doesn’t really matter all that much in the long run. One slip up is never an excuse to give up!
3. Reevaluate and Recommit
It’s important that you take a step back every so often and reevaluate how you’re thinking about food, your weight loss process, and even your end goals. Circumstances change over time. What you think and feel now may not be the same as when you committed to your lifestyle change. Your employment or relationship status may have changed, you may have moved or picked up a new hobby, you might have even decided that you don’t have to lose as much as you thought you did to live the life you want to live.
Trying to press on with your personal weight loss process with your mind stuck in the past is like trying to drive on the highway with the car stuck in first gear—you can do it but it’s dangerous, a bit scary, and it will take you forever to get anywhere.
Take the opportunity to examine how this new input affects your goals, redesign your personal process, and recommit to your lifestyle change.